Dublin Life & Culture.

The Great Wall of Glasnevin.

Severalnewspapers today have picked up on the fact that the remembrance wall unveiled yesterday in Glasnevin Cemetery includes an incorrect Irish language spelling, with ‘Éirí Amach’ becoming ‘Eírí Amach’. You can watch RTE’s coverage of the unveiling of the wall here:

Glasnevin have been quick to state that this will be amended, but there’s another problem with the wall. While the incorrect inclusion of Volunteer Andrew Cunningham as a civilian casualty has gone largely unnoticed, it is a mistake that goes beyond a fada.

Andrew Cunningham, listed as a ‘civilian’.

Andrew Cunningham was from Pigeon House Road in Ringsend. A member of the Irish Volunteers from the time of the inception of the nationalist organisation, he was a silk weaver by trade. Cunningham was shot on the Ringsend Road on 1 May, which is after the surrender of P.H Pearse and the rebel forces, but sporadic shooting remained a problem in parts of Dublin. Very little is known of Cunningham with regards a biographical sketch; Ray Bateson notes in history Deansgrange Cemetery & the Easter Rising that his death left a widow, Kathleen, and two children living at 11 York Terrace.

He was only 26 years old at the time of his death, a reminder of the youth of many of the participants in the Easter Rising. His brother, Michael Patrick Cunningham (born in 1888) was also a silk weaver and an active member of the Irish Volunteers, and took part in the Rising too. My thanks to Damien McDonald for the comment below this post, which notes that “he fought with the Roe’s Distillery Garrison, which occupied a building on the other side of James’s Street from the South Dublin Union.”

Part of a list of those ‘killed in action, 1916’ contained within Bureau of Military History Witness Statement #1686

Cunningham’s service was referenced in an edition of the Catholic Bulletin published in 1916, and in the Wolfe Tone Annual on the thirtieth-anniversary of the rebellion. Buried in Deansgrange Cemetery, a simple grave marker of a cross decorated by Easter Lilies was replaced in 2013 by the National Graves Association.

The unveiling of the Glasnevin wall has proven hugely controversial in recent weeks. Artist Robert Ballagh, part of the Reclaim 1916 group, has been a vocal opponent of the wall since plans of it were first announced some time ago. Some relatives have criticised the wall, while others support it.

A mural in the Mens Shed of Loughlinstown unveiled in April 2016, and including Andrew Cunningham (thanks to Jason)

The widow and children of Andrew. This image appeared in nationalist publications after the Easter Rising, as did images of other families who lost loved ones in the Volunteers and the ICA.

Glasnevin will remain an important centre of commemoration in the years ahead and throughout the Decade of Centenaries. In 2015, there was some controversy at the centenary of the funeral of veteran Fenian O’Donovan Rossa, with some taking issue with the speech delivered by John Green of the Glasnevin Trust. To quote from the blog of journalist and broadcaster Jude Collins:

Glasnevin Trust Chairman John Green delivered an oration on Rossa. There was no mention of his IRB exploits or the involvement of the IRB preparation for the funeral. He made an assertion that Rossa, as he lay on his death bed, dementia riddled, supported Home Rule and John Redmond – in effect Constitutional Nationalism / politics. How wrong and historically inaccurate.

After the commemoration I spoke with Dr Shane Kenna, biographer of Rossa. He was appalled that the state hijacked the event to suggest Rossa died a constitutionalist. He didn’t. This allegation was proven fictitious as constitutional Nationalists tried to claim Rossa’s legacy, particularly at a time when their support for an unpopular war was doing them considerable damage. Rossa’s wife Mary Jane agreed the allegation was fabricated, yet the State commemoration decided to go with it! Why? Well, to call Rossa anything else would be dangerous ground for them, handing the political initiative to others.

Regardless, on the subject of Glasnevin, it is worth highlighting that the 24 April will see the unveiling of the recently restored 1916 Plot memorial in the St. Paul’s Section of Glasnevin Cemetery.

Frank Ryan, editor of IRA newspaper An Phoblacht, unveils the first memorial at the 1916 Plot at St. Paul’s section, Glasnevin. 1929.

A memorial was first unveiled at the site of the 1916 Plot in 1929 by the National Graves Association, with Frank Ryan delivering the oration.A new memorial replaced it in 1966 for the Golden Jubilee of the Rising, but in recent years it has weathered badly and required restoration. Among the Volunteers and ICA dead in the 1916 plot is Charles D’Arcy, a fifteen year old member of the Irish Citizen Army who was shot in the vicinity of City Hall early in the rebellion.

We wish the NGA every success with the unveiling of the restored 1916 Plot, which is a fitting memorial to those buried there.

Restoration work underway on the 1916 Plot at St Paul’s, Glasnevin (Image Credit: National Graves Association)

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15 Responses

The fada is bad enough but to list a volunteer as a civilian is very sloppy indeed.
I hadn’t heard about the wall ’til the phone-in on Joe Duffy recently. It certainly is controversial. My hope is, that as we live in a democracy and people both support and oppose the wall, it will not be defaced or damaged in any way.

Andrew Christopher Cunningham was born 23 December 1889, which means he was aged 26 when he was killed. He married Kathleen Darling on 10 September 1913. Their son Michael Christopher was born 11 June 1914 and their daughter Alice Catherine was born 12 February 1916. Andrew’s brother, Michael Patrick Cunningham (my great-grandfather, 1 March 1888-5 May 1970) was also a silk weaver and a member of the Irish Volunteers. He fought with the Roe’s Distillery garrison, which occupied a building on the other side of James’s Street from the South Dublin Union. Following his participation in the 1916 Easter Rising Michael Cunningham evaded arrest or capture. Arrested on 26 November 1920 during the War of Independence, he was interned at Ballykinlar Internment Camp until December 1921. He joined the Criminal Investigation Department in March 1922 and served with that body until its disbandment on 28 October 1923. He then joined the Protective Force with which he served until that body’s disbandment on 30 November 1924. Michael Cunningham then joined the Dublin Metropolitan Police serving with that body and subsequently the Gárda Síochána. Michael had 8 children. His eldest son was named Cornelius Colbert Cunningham (1918-1991), in tribute to one of the executed leaders of the Easter Rising

In addition to the query raised by Ray Bateson in his book Deansgrange and the entry in the records of the INAAVDF and the evidence of Simon Donnelly it must also be noted that Andrew Cunninghams widow was awarded compensation by the Rebellion (Victims ) Committee which was a government scheme for civilians killed in the rebellion.
He was also listed as a civilian casualty in the Sinn Fein Rebellion Handbook.

There is only one mention of Andrew Cunningham as far as I’m aware in The Weekly Irish Times Sinn Fein Rebellion Handbook produced in 1917.

On page 61 under the heading “49 in Dean’s Grange Cemetery” his name along with 48 others buried in the cemetery are listed (see above link)

However, this list is NOT a list of civilians as British soldiers such as Frederick Dietrichsen listed directly under Andrew Cunningham for example (there are more) and Republican Volunteer John Keely are included on this list.

(Incidentally, there are two further Republican Volunteers, Andrew J. Byrne and Seán Cunningham who are buried in Dean’s Grange who are not listed.)

This list is a list of 49 people buried in Dean’s Grange made up of civilians, British Armed Forces and Republican Volunteers.

So to use this list to ascertain civilian status to Andrew Cunningham is incorrect.

If there is further mention of him elsewhere in the publication specifically referencing him as a civilian, I stand corrected.

For me to comment on how or why a penniless widow with two infant children to support managed to receive compensation from the British Government in relation to her husbands death which occurred two days after the Rising had officially ended would be pure conjecture at this stage.

What is not conjecture are these two facts:

In the October 1916 edition of The Catholic Bulletin, which was under Republican editorship (JJ O’Kelly “Sceilg”) Andrew Cunningham’s photo and pen portrait appeared stating he was a member of The Irish Volunteers from their inception.

The December 1917 edition of the same publication carried photos of the widows and children of Republican volunteers killed Easter 1916 appeared and Andrew Cunningham’s family were among them.

His name is not listed on one of the first memorial cards listing executed and rebels killed in action printed in November 1916. See http://www.irishmedals.org Rebels Killed in 1916.
There is also no successful application from his widow for a pension in the Military Service Pension Collection which awarded pensions to those Irish Volunteers who were on active service in 1916.

The fantastic http://www.irishmedals.org does indeed carry an image of the memorial card mentioned above and in a way it gets to the crux of the matter.

The memorial card lists those “men who were killed fighting for Ireland during Easter Week 1916”.

This is exactly where I believe the confusion about Andrew Cunningham’s status emanates. Andrew was not killed during Easter Week.

He was shot on Monday 1st May, two days after the surrender on Saturday 29th April 1916.

It is accepted that the memorial card also contains an error in relation to John Cromean who is listed as John Dromean.

It seems slightly odd to cite http://www.irishmedals.org as source to back up the assertion that Andrew Cunningham was a civilian given that he is number 17 under the listing of “Rebels killed in 1916” on that very site.

“If you search the Military Archive but do not find your relative it does not mean they did not take part, some people who took part did not apply for a pension, and some had moved to other countries or may have died.”

Given that we don’t know the fate of Andrew’s widow, Kathleen beyond December 1917 when her photo appeared in The Catholic Bulletin it is not known if she was still alive or living abroad when the pensions were introduced or if she was in Ireland if she even made an application.

So the fact she was never awarded a pension doesn’t really prove anything.

I have personal family experience of this, having a family member who would have been entitled to certain medal’s and a pension as he was active between 1917 -1923 and I was eagerly awaiting the pensions going online. Alas, when they did, he did not show up as it seems he never applied, for whatever reason.

Let me return to The Catholic Bulletin a little more in-depth.

The October 1916 edition which carried Andrew’s photo and pen portrait stated that Andrew joined the Irish Volunteers in November 1913 and attributed his death to the British Army.

Given that The Catholic Bulletin was only featuring Rebel’s killed in this series why would they include Andrew and have this specific information on him and obtain his photograph if he were a non-combatant civilian?

The December 1917 edition carried photo’s of the widows of 1916 Volunteers dressed in black mourning clothes along with their children in posed photographs.

Why would Kathleen Cunningham have allowed herself to be photographed and included in the publication if her husband was not a Volunteer?

There is no doubt that there are discrepancies between some of the material out there and I believe these discrepancies originate from to the fact that Andrew was killed two days after the Rising had officially ended.

It is The Catholic Bulletin issue which for me at least proves beyond all doubt that Andrew was a Volunteer.

Accordingly The LBS MENS SHED will be unveiling their 1916 mural this Saturday which will feature Volunteer Andrew Cunningham along with the other three 1916 Volunteers buried in Dean’s Grange Cemetery.

The discrepancies over the circumstances of his death are added to by the fact that to this day he does not appear in the latest Roll of Honour of 1916 Rebellion Dead published by the Military Archives on their excellent site.

or in Joseph E.A.Connells encyclopedic “Whos Who in the Dublin Rising ,1916 ” published by Wordwell in 2015. or in his classic “Dublin in Rebellion; a Directory 1913 – 1923 “. 2009 edition by Lilliput Press.

Any active Volunteer killed after the surrender would have been subject to more notice at the time and more details as to the circumstances of his death would have been circulated by his fellow Volunteers and commanding officers.
Especially since the commander of the Third Batt. Eamonn De Valera was not executed and could have commented on his death at any time.

Conversely, is it naive of me to expect that if a civilian was killed two days after the truce was declared, it would have merited a small mention in a newspaper. I suspect the issue of whether my grand-uncle was a civilian or a Volunteer, is a mystery which will never be solved conclusively. Either way, I am happy that his short life has been acknowledged by the National Graves Association (for erecting his headstone in 2013) and the LBS Men’s Shed Group (who will unveil their mural this Saturday).
My guess is that he was a member of the Irish Volunteers. It’s possible that he joined the Volunteers at the same time as his older brother Michael Patrick. Since they were both silk weavers, Michael Mallin may have influenced their decision to join. Their parents lived in The Tenters area of Dublin 8 (at one time, the hub of the weaving industry in Dublin) and Michael continued to live in that area after his marriage in 1910. However, Andrew moved to Ringsend after his marriage in 1913, since his wife was from that area (her father was a bottle maker, possibly employed by The Irish Glass Bottle Company). This might explain why Michael was a member of the Roe’s Distillery Garrison (near his home in Dublin 8) and Andrew (I assume) was based at Boland’s Mills (near his home in Ringsend).

Thank you for all this family history on Andrew Cunningham. He was my grandfather, my father was Michael Christopher Cunningham. We have only become aware of Andrew lately, and are trying to piece together the facts of his life. My sister is also making enquiries, and it is fascinating to discover his story. Also it is wonderful to learn of another side to the family, his brother Michael’s family. Many members of our side have attended the unveiling of the mural. Unfortunately , I am in Australia and can’t attend, but I look forward to hearing all about it. Thank you for all the information you listed in your post.